Crush women win first-ever Northern California Championship; Clovis men finish fourth
FORTUNA – The Clovis Community College women's cross country team is 2-for-2 in championship races this season with one more to go. On Saturday, the Crush captured the 2022 Northern California Regional Championship at Rohner Park in Fortuna, the first in the five-year history of the program.
The Crush can claim Central Valley Conference and Northern California titles and now have their sights set on the final event of the season, the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) State Championships. The event will once again be hosted by Clovis Community College and will take place on Nov. 19 at Woodward Park in Fresno.
At the NorCal Championships, the Crush women earned four of the top-10 individual finishes to total 49 team points to easily outpace second-place De Anza College with 89 points for the team title.
Julie Martinez was the top placer for Clovis, finishing in fourth place with her time of 21:00.0 on the 5K course. She led three other teammates in the top eight scoring places and top nine finishers overall.
Walker Douglas (21:40.0), Evelyn Zambrano (21:44.0), and Jennifer Recinos (21:55.0) were seventh through ninth, respectively, for Clovis which also got a scoring finish from Megan Duran, who was 27th overall in 23:46.0.
Also for the Crush, Gabriella Avila ran 24:09.0 for 35th and Breton Cameron finished at 27:52.0 for 70th.
The Clovis men improved on last year's sixth-place finish by taking fourth place on Saturday at the Northern California Championships with a final team score of 152 points.
The men were led by Sebastian McGehee's (pictured, left) eighth-place showing. He cleared the 4-mile course with his team-leading time of 22:22.0. He was joined in the top-25 by Marcus Jauregui in 23rd place at 23:22.0.
Also for the Crush men, Aron Tefra ran 23:30.0 (26th), Dominic Bien clocked in at 23:54.0 (36th), Jordan Barajas finished with a time of 24:50.0 (59th), Miguel Marin ran 25:05.0 (62nd), and Isaiah Tapia closed it out at 25:08.0 (65th).
Both the Crush women and men have qualified for the State Championships for the fourth straight season under head coach CJ Albertson. The women will look to improve on their fourth-place finish, men 17th-place showing, from last season's state finals at Woodward Park.